~ Review: Mad As A Hatter ~

Once upon a time…

Jefferson is playing hide and seek with his daughter, Grace. They head back to their cottage, when they noticed Regina’s carriage. Grace asks her father if he knows her, and Jefferson says no. He tells Grace to hide in the woods until he comes and finds her. Jefferson goes in and clearly he and Regina know each other. Regina needs his help, but Jefferson says he doesn’t do that kind of work anymore. Regina tries to get him to do it by promising him and his daughter a lifetime of luxury and comfort. But Jefferson still says no. Regina tells him she needs his special skills to get her somewhere, somewhere he has been before. She hands him a paper, and Jefferson asks what she possible could want from that certain place; something was taken from her and she wants it back. However Jefferson still says no and Regina understands. Yeah right. 

Mirror, Mirror How Do You Like My New Nose?

The next day, Jefferson and Grace are at the village market. Grace sees the toy cart and finds a rabbit. She asks her father if she could have it so he can join them for tea, and Jefferson couldn’t resist saying no. However he doesn’t have enough money to pay for it, and the old lady says she can’t sell the rabbit for any less. Grace says it’s OK, but Jefferson will not take no for an answer. Grace insists she doesn’t need it and they both leave. After they leave, the old lady goes to the back where a mirror is. The Magic Mirror appears and tells the old lady that Grace still should have had the toy, but the old lady replied that would have been no fun, and reveals herself to be Regina in disguise. That is cruel. I have to admit I’m a tiny bit disappointed that we saw the EQ in her infamous disguise already. I was hoping that could have been saved for when she tries to get Snow to eat the poison apple. It would have at least had that element of surprise. Oh well...

Back at their house, Jefferson makes a rabbit for Grace and apologizes for it not being the same one she wanted, but Grace loves it. Love the expression Jefferson had when Grace said that. They sit down to have their tea party. But Jefferson has decided to help Regina one more time and tells Grace she needs to go to their neighbor’s house for the rest of the day.  Grace wants to come, but Jefferson tells her he is not going to work in the woods. Grace then pleads her father not to do whatever is Regina wants him to do. But Jefferson tells her he wants to give her everything she wants, but Grace says all she wants is her father. However Jefferson’s mind is made up and Grace makes him promise that he returns in time for their tea party. Jefferson promises. Sweet, but sad scene. After Grace leaves, Jefferson opens up a trunk and takes out a hat shaped box.

~ Sneak Peek: Hat Trick ~

So we have 3 new sneak peeks of this week's episode. Interesting enough, none of them take place in fairy tale land. I guess they want to surprise us. Enjoy!

~ Emma's Future In Storybrooke ~

The Huffington Post did an interview with Jennifer Morrison about what is to come for Emma Swan in Storybrooke.

1) Emma's "super power" and Sidney Glass

I feel like she's always been a little bit skeptical of Sidney only because he did come from being so deep in Regina's pocket that it's hard for Emma to believe that someone could really make that much of a turnaround... It’s like she knows that there may be something to be skeptical about with Sidney, and yet, he seems like the best possible option at this point...But yes, at some point, she will definitely have a rude awakening in terms of how deeply he's not supporting her.

2) Emma arresting Mary Margaret

Emma's sort of left with no option because if she doesn’t go where the evidence leads and actually make the arrest, then she looks like she's offering some sort of favoritism to Mary Margaret, which then makes Emma look like she's not doing her job properly, which then gives Regina a reason to fire Emma...In Emma's mind, even though it's a horrible thing to have to arrest this person who she truly does consider a friend and truly does believe in, she feels like she can protect her better by doing this than she can if she doesn't do it...

3)  Emma on Mr. Gold as Mary Margaret's attorney

I think initially she's very opposed to [Mary hiring him] because obviously she doesn't trust him, for good reason...She suspects that he has ulterior motives that are serving him, but those ulterior motives that are serving him are also serving Emma sometimes. So she, once again, has to sort of choose the lesser of two evils and decide if she's going to go along with what he's doing in order to get the results that she needs in order to protect the people that she wants to protect...

4) Emma being kidnapped by the Mad Hatter

It does start to plant some interesting seeds in Emma, because it's another person saying to her some of the things that Henry has been saying...But it is really the first time that there are little chips in Emma's armor in terms of her thinking; not necessarily that there really is a curse and that everybody really is a fairytale, but I think it’s really that turning point for her to realize that there is something very dark and possibly dangerous going on that she needs to try to figure out.

5) Emma and The Stranger

...I think the next several episodes you sort of start to see her test whether or not she can trust him. She allows him in, in little bits, and then pushes him away in other ways and sort of starts to kind of test the waters to see how trustworthy he is, where he really stands on things, and if he is safe or not for her or for Henry or for anyone...

To read the entire interview, click here.

~ Sneak Peeks: Red-Handed & Hat Trick ~

1) ABC Medianet released a synopsis for episode 17 "Hat Trick:"

While searching for a missing Mary Margaret, Emma is kidnapped by a man whose affinity for hats has him teetering on the edge of madness. Meanwhile, viewers will be transported outside of the fairytale land that was for the first time when the Evil Queen persuades a skillful man of magic to come work for her one last time and travel to Wonderland in order to help steal something from the Queen of Hearts.

2)  A couple of sneak peeks for this week's episode "Red-Handed." And there really good.

~ Friday News With More Spoilers ~

We have some more, a lot more I should say,  information spoilers on what's coming up for the remainder of the season from Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.

From E's Watch with Kristin 

1) So by now we know that Sebastian Stan, from Gossip Girl, will be playing the Mad Hatter in the 17th episode. This episode will be set in Wonderland and we get to find out why he is called the Mad Hatter. 

~ Edward ~ "The first [difference] you'll notice is in who the Mad Hatter was and his backstory. Then what Wonderland is and [its] changes is something we hope to explore also." "We're hoping this tells you the story of the Mad Hatter, but will also leave you questions about Wonderland."

2) Dr. Whale will return, but we won't find out who his fairy tale character is this season.

3) We will see Belle for a little bit in episode 14, as noted before. However, she will be much more prominent towards the end of the season.

4) As mentioned before, Barbara Hershey will play Regina's mother in an upcoming episode.

~ Edward ~ "Evil is not born, it's made. Her mother has a specific viewpoint about the world."  ~ Adam ~ "Hopefully you'll get a great insight into Regina and why she is the way she is."

5) The mystery of Kathryn's disappearance will go on for the next 4 or 5 episodes before it gets resolved.